Stopped School Bus

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
So....I know the rules about stopping for a stopped school bus...but this is in a gray area...what would have been right?

Coming up US-1 on Friday afternoon, S of Sanford. Bus is stopped on my side of divided highway (northbound). Red stop lights are on and stop flag is out, and see a kid getting off the bus. BUT...the bus is pulled off on the shoulder of the road in front of a house. Tires are right on the fog line...but technically the bus is not in the roadway anymore.

Stop, or not?

Four cars blew right on past at 60-65 (this in 55 zone). I saw it on up ahead, and let off the gas, dropping to about 45...about that time, red lights went off and bus pulled back onto the roadway, so it was a non-issue for me.

I'm thinking *technically* it was out of the travel lanes, and OK to keep going...but it was probably a case where if the popo was having a bad day, you'd get a bunch of points piled on.

What would have been correct?
 
To add: "correct" would probably have been for the bus to stop correctly in the travel lane, so there was no question. Driver probably trying to be 'nice' to thru traffic. Still, what would you have done when approaching that?
 
I just completed the bus driving course in my county and if the red lights are on and stop sign is out, you got to stop period. After taking this training I wouldn't screw around with passing a stopped school bus, it costs too much and you could end up killing a kid. Most people don't think about that last part enough.
 
if the red lights are on and stop sign is out, you got to stop except if you are on the other side on a divided highway with a median
 
Cars should have stopped... Same side, divided highway = stop

Just a FYI for those reading... a divided highway is one with a grass median, guard rails, cables, or other barrier in the center etc.. A paved center turn lane is NOT a barrier. With a paved center turn lane BOTH SIDES still have to stop..
 
yager said:
Cars should have stopped... Same side, divided highway = stop

Just a FYI for those reading... a divided highway is one with a grass median, guard rails, cables, or other barrier in the center etc.. A paved center turn lane is NOT a barrier. With a paved center turn lane BOTH SIDES still have to stop..
Click to expand...


correct I agree 100% with this
 
yager said:
A paved center turn lane is NOT a barrier. With a paved center turn lane BOTH SIDES still have to stop..
Click to expand...

Not if its a four lane road.

Section 7B.15 UNLAWFUL TO PASS STOPPED SCHOQL BUS Si!!n (R4-90. R4-91)
Option:
The Unlawful to Pass Stopped School Bus (R4-90 and R4-91) Signs may be used to inform motorists ofG.S. 20-217, which states that: The driver of any vehicle approaching a school bus from either direction on the same road, street or highway while the bus is displaying its mechanical stop signal and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, shall bring his vehicle to a full stop before
passing or attempting to pass the bus, unless the conditions shown below are present:
The driver of any vehicle need not stop if he is traveling in the opposite direction from the school bus on any road, highway, or city street that has been divided into two roadways, so constructed as to separate vehicular traffic between the two roadways by a divided space (highways that consist of at
least four lanes or more with a median, or highways that consists of at least four or more lanes with a center lane used for left turns) or by a physical barrier.
 
JC is correct [http://www.ncdot.org/download/dmv/handbooks_NCDL_English.pdf] Page 47ish

4 lanes w/ paved center turn lane = DO NOT STOP

4 lanes w/ NO center turn lane or barrier = YES STOP
2 lanes w/ paved center turn = YES STOP

While I understand the above rule, its very confusing to have to count lanes and decided if the center has a barrier, low curb or is paved in enough time to stop or not ass end the guy in front who is stopping anyway...

Plus it's a 5 point moving violation... I'll probably still stop rather than argue with some bubba cop..
 
At this point, the pendulum has swung the other way with safety and proof. I have a friend who got a ticket because he passed a stopped bus in a similar circumstance and the bus driver wrote down his plate number and turned it in. There was not even a cop present to witness/verify it. It was his word against a bus driver that apparently figures it's more important to keep an eye on liscense plates than the kids they are trying to watch. In his case, the yellow lights were on, but not the red lights, but he had to go to court to prove that.

I'm all about safety, but sometimes the bus drivers are just as unsafe as the "rest of us". I see a lot of it first hand waiting to pick my step daughter up at Central Davidson. A lot of their unsafe driving that I see is a result of having to drive around dimwits that can't seem to keep their cars in a straight line to pick up their kids.
 
GubNi said:
if the red lights are on and stop sign is out, you got to stop except if you are on the other side on a divided highway with a median
Click to expand...

x3.

The point is that you don't know where that kid is gonna go when he gets off.
 
highways that consists of at least four or more lanes with a center lane used for left turns
Click to expand...

that does not say a barrier... I remeber this from drivers ed, if there is four lanes and a turning lane the people on the oppsite side of the turn lane does not have to stop.

I say if you are on the same street as the bus (even if the bus is on the side of the road) you stop. BECAUSE if something goes wrong and that little kid ends up in the road he/she will be ran over.

I hate a school bus, EVERY freaking morning I get behind one and it takes those little snot nose devils too long to get on the bus. I saw one kid walk at least 30 yards at the slowest speed she could while the bus waited for her and the pile of cars lined up..RAWR
 
When I am unsure about the rules, I just stop, It is a lot better than a ticket. Plus that and waiting 60 seconds is better than hitting a child not watching traffic as they should.
 
I stop regardless, doubt I'll get a ticket for stopping. Did you hear on the news that a JOGGER ran into a stopped school bus! Said he didn't see it! I believe it was in Greensboro a day or so ago!
 
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